16 Proven Methods to Develop Your Niche

We all want a niche. We want something that people can associate us with when our name is mentioned in a conversation. A niche is a
situation or activity specially suited to a person's interests, talents, or nature.
A niche, simplified, is the unanswered questions between you and your overall purpose. The
definition alone can present many questions to help us find our niche. There is
some form of niche for everything we think of. So why can't everyone find their
niche? Let's find out. Let's take the three characteristics of the definition
and break them into action steps.

Interests

Fill in the
Blank:

Sometimes the
answer could already be there. Is there anything that you are interested in? Is
there anything you would be interested in learning to do? Is there anything
that you are interested enough in to do for free? If a future career is your
goal, you will be doing it for free for a little while.

Carry a
notepad:

Always have
something to take notes with at all times. Maybe something will grab your
interest or you have questions about it. About once every few days, maybe sit
down and review the notes. If you have a mobile device, you can download great
apps for note taking that have voice recognition.You can usually send these notes directly to
your email as well. This can be to your advantage if you are on the go.

Do your
research:

Try to find people
in your area that already pursue some of your potential interests. Take them
out to lunch. Let them know ahead of time that your intent is to ask them some
questions, so they will be ready for it. If they don't have time for lunch, ask
them if you can shoot them an email. This email should be no more than 3 short questions
about what they do, what it took to get there, and the pros and cons of it.
Sometimes if you see a lot of cons in something, that will eliminate the
interest immediately, making the overall decision much easier.

Talents

Write a
resume to yourself:

When you look for
a job, you would do this. So why not when you are trying to assess what to do
with your life. At this current point and time, what would you hire you to do? What
are your past jobs? What were the skills you acquired in order to do those
jobs? Cross reference the skills and see if any complement the other. Pair your
skills into groups. Sometimes groups versus a long list of unrelated words can
help speed up the decision process. Break those groups into sub-groups notating
what you are currently good at, and what you need to work on, and what you hope to become good at.

Quit trying
to be yourself:

Don't just be
yourself. Aim to find things that add extensions to yourself. It is possible to
be who you are, while adding some skills along the way.

Be open
minded:

Sometimes we find one thing we are good at,
and then we do that one thing because it is comfortable, giving no regard to
the fact that we probably have much more to offer. Sometimes new talents
are developed by being pushed into unknown territory. Don't let opportunity get blinded by current desires.
There will be things you need to do, and particularly don't want to, in order
to progress. When this happens, take advantage and try to learn from it.
It is possible you may learn a new talent, or how your existing talent can be
applicable to areas you never imagined.

What
challenges you?

Sit back and think
what challenges you have faced, and how you have overcame them. Odds are others
have had these same challenges, and they are waiting for an answer. It is easy
to view developing talents for the taking, but develop them for giving as well.

Are you
dangerous?

Do you have enough
knowledge at something to be considered dangerous. If so, maybe you should
expand on the knowledge to further complement what you want to achieve.

Ask others:

Having a talent
that you want recognized by others, requires them to recognize it. If you
really want to know what others see in you, ASK. This can be scary, but quite
informative. Don't be afraid. It will surprise you what others see as your
talents. It might even make you consider working harder towards something they
viewed, that you had never seen. If the answers don't align with how you think
you should be viewed, ask them why they don't see in you what you figured they
would.Robert Michael Fried,
best-selling author of Igniting Your True Purpose and Passion, said “the
risk is right when it will help you close the disparity or gap between who you
are and where you want to go. When your outside view of the world reflects your
inner voice, you are well on your way to taking the right risk.”Sometimes we miss those
qualities we need to master that will have us perceived as we desire.

Nature

Ask
yourself:

It is easy to get
derailed by other's opinion. The amazing thing is that the most important
opinion of all rarely affects us: It is our own opinion. How do you feel about
yourself? What do you feel like you are good at? What is the reason you could see yourself
going for the ideas you have had for so long? These are creating vision and
confidence , because when you try something new, you will need both. In case you missed my post,the Prime Objective, here is a link to it that
furthers dwells into the key motivators.

Know
Yourself:

If someone is
asked what 3 things they like best about their role model, they can tell you
instantly. Are you able to answer that question as quickly about yourself ?The role modelknows how to describe themselves. They had to
figure it out in order to get where they are today.

Love it when people call you Names:

As bad as we hate
to admit it, when someone calls us a name or describes us, it is usually current
with our persona at the given time. This does not have to only be in negative
situations, but positive ones as well. Take heed when someone calls you names,
it just might help you answer some questions.

Here are some things you can implement while on your journey:

Get serious:

Have an ideal time
frame in mind for when you wantto make
that big decision. The sooner you figure it out, the sooner you are on your
way.

Defy All
Logic:

If you have
figured out what you want to do, you have done enough thinking already. Many
times in life we don't jump on those golden opportunities because we give logic
time to kick in. Despite what we desire to achieve, logic starts telling us all
the reasons why we shouldn't. Sometimes if we just got started, despite the
logic, the decision would already have been made.

Be the same, but be different:

In
anything, there will be competition. Don't get hung up in the fact that
someone else has already thought of your idea. To
become a frontrunner, it takes a unique combination of talents to make a person
stand out in their niche. Being the best at something that already
exists, is a way to add to your niche.

Look towards the future:

What about now? Concentrate on the now with
your actions, but make sure these current actions will be beneficial to your
future. In the future, will it be discovered that your skill set is needed? Is
it needed now, and will it stand the test of time?

Fantastic topic, James -- these are great tips for every one of us to read, regardless of our industry.

Many of my coaching students get overwhelmed when they first start looking into doing business for themselves, and what I notice is that they struggle because they think they have to be crystal clear about every step of the journey they're starting.

I always tell them to just put in the time and the identity answers will become clear, but I love the tips you provide here!